Jason Ahn, a lighting designer and associate designer based in London, began his career at Woodroffe Bassett Design and has worked at some of the UK's most iconic venues, including the National Theatre and Barbican Centre, and in theatres in the West End. He trained at Rose Bruford College and Seoul Institute of the Arts.
Ahn's work in lighting design and the arts is informed by his research in neuroesthetics [neuroaesthetics in the UK] which explores how the brain recognizes, processes, and responds to artistic experiences. This theory is presented in his book, Neuroaesthetic Stage Lighting Design: What Makes Good Light, published by Routledge in 2025.
He spoke to Live Design about the influence of neuroesthetics on both his work and theatre audiences.
Neuroaesthetic Stage Lighting Design: What Makes Good Light - available from Routledge
Neuroaesthetic Stage Lighting Design: What Makes Good Light - available from Amazon
Live Design: What is your background and training in lighting?
Jason Ahn: I have been drawn to lighting since I was nine years old and have never really looked back. Most of my work has been in theatre and live music but theatre is my main area for now, and I was trained in lighting design in both South Korea and the UK. Outside my practice, I have always had a habit of reading across philosophy, science and semiotics, finding connections between those ideas and the way light shapes what we see and feel on the stage.
LD: How did you learn about neuroesthetics?
JA: It began with a question about using odd numbers in lighting composition. Koo Yoon-young, [who designed the Pyeongchang Olympic Ceremony 2018] one of my lighting mentors, once told me about the importance of odd numbers — “When you set lighting fixtures in a row, you should have an odd number.” I completely agreed with her, but wanted to understand why it was important to keep an odd number. That question stayed with me until I came to the UK for my master’s degree, where I studied topics related to it. Eventually, I found this interdisciplinary field called neuroesthetics, which led me into that world and shaped my dissertation as well.
Jason Ahn standing outside a building in London
LD: Can you explain what neuroesthetics is?
JA: Neuroesthetics is a scientific field that seeks to understand human aesthetic experience using insights and methods from neuroscience. When we experience beauty, it examines how our brain processes visual, emotional, and sensory information that shapes the response. But the explanations do not come from neuroscience alone; it actively draws on related fields such as psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science.
LD: What impact has neuroesthetics had on your lighting designs?
JA: I’m quite obsessive about keeping odd numbers in every visible section. What I’ve found is that odd numbers draw stronger attention from the audience. People tend to gaze toward the center of an object, as it helps them assess its overall appearance. Extending this idea to lighting composition, when visual elements like lights are arranged in odd numbers, there is always a central element which is able to focus — whereas even numbers are not. This effect was clearly shown in the survey for my dissertation, and that was the moment I began to consciously use odd numbers.
What’s more, it has helped me make better decisions rather than just intuition. During a hectic tech rehearsal, it’s easy to lose direction even when you sense that something isn’t quite right. I try to think step by step rather than relying only on intuition. I ask myself questions like, “If I make this change now, how will the audience feel it?” or “This light feels inappropriate, why is it inappropriate in the current blocking and tempo?” By connecting such questions to some theories or studies coming in my head, I can analyze the current lighting state more precisely — and that often leads to better design choices. In that sense, neuroesthetics has become one of the key criteria in my approach to lighting design.
LD: Can you point to any specific moments in either Stereophonic or a project on which you were the designer which were informed by neuroesthetics – or any of the other theories of perception you mention in your book?
JA: I worked as the associate lighting designer for Jiyoun Chang on Stereophonic in West End. Almost all the scenes were lit with warm tungsten tones to evoke the nostalgic atmosphere of an old recording studio. However, the transitions between acts were strikingly different, using bold color shifts and darkness. Those moments were designed with the idea of priming in mind and it's called 'priming effect' in psychology. Priming effect is a psychological phenomenon where prior exposure to a stimulus subconsciously shapes how we perceive or respond to what follows. When the stage suddenly moved into blue and cold white light from a contrasting warm tone, the audience subconsciously anticipated a cooler emotional tone in the next scene. It was a way of guiding perception before the narrative itself changed.
In my design for Evita, it included several sharp lighting transitions that matched the rhythm of the music, and it was a great match with the scene. This related to “beep-flash illusion.” It plays with the brain’s temporal binding: when light and sound occur almost simultaneously, the brain merges them into a single perceptual event, heightening intensity and attention. That interaction between timing for sound and light is something I find deeply neuroesthetic — it engages the perceptual system rather than relying purely on narrative meaning.
LD: What prompted you to write this book?
JA: Some people say lighting designers are artists, while others regard them as technicians; for me, that gap has always been hard to bridge. I’ve never thought of lighting as merely creating a visual environment, but as something that gives meaning to a performance and allows its story to reach the audience emotionally. I wanted to articulate the significance of what we do. Not as a simple technical support, but as work that shapes perception and deeply affects how audiences experience the world of the show. The dissertation I wrote during my master’s study became the catalyst for this book.
LD: What research into lighting you are undertaking?
JA: I work as a professional lighting designer rather than a full-time researcher, so most of my research grows out of practice. Ideas often come while I am working in the theatre, sometimes from my own designs and sometimes from watching the work of other designers. I keep notes and develop my thoughts from those observations.
Lighting operates on an unconscious level. Audiences rarely say that the lighting was brilliant, however, they always feel its presence. That subtle influence is what fascinates me. Instead of collecting direct feedback, I pay attention to moments when the atmosphere shifts or when the audience’s focus changes, and I reflect on why. In that sense, every production becomes a kind of field study. My research is about understanding those invisible mechanisms of perception and using them to make better artistic choices.
I am also developing part of the research presented in my book into an academic paper, which I plan to submit to a journal next year. It is a way of extending the discussion beyond the stage and contributing to a broader conversation about light and perception.
LD: What do you hope other lighting professionals will take away from this book?
JA: I hope lighting professionals recognize how meaningful and invaluable our work truly is. When you create a red light, it is never just a red light. It creates tension, it stirs emotion, and it shapes how the audience feels in the moment. Light is not only a tool to illuminate the stage; it is a language that communicates directly through perception. I hope it is a renewed awareness of that power.
LD: Are you planning any further publications?
As I have already written a book on lighting design from a professional perspective, my next project is a more liberal-arts-based book that invites the public to think about the value of light in our daily lives.